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Love letters

Head Rambles Posted on by

There are some things that are more important than apathy.

Today is a day for writing love letters to RTE.

Here is mine:

Dear Sirs,
I have never written a letter of complaint before, but on this occasion I feel compelled to.
I understand that RTE is going through a difficult time financially, but there are times when fiscal rectitude has to come second to the primary aim of an organisation.  Your primary aim is to entertain the listening and viewing public, not to return a balance sheet.
I am referring to the decision to ‘dumb down’ the radio programmes broadcast by Nikki Hayes and Rick O’Shea.  These two have done a magnificent job in building up an audience for their shows.  They entertain and stimulate.  In your wisdom, you have demolished that hard work and have reduced their programmes to the banal standard as set by lesser institutions. 
Frankly, if I want to listen to non stop music I will stand in a lift or visit my supermarket.  I did not listen to those programmes for the music content, rather the banter and wit.  It brightened up my day and frequently made me laugh.  That is gone now.  I don’t listen any more as I have no reason to.
Your decision to ‘cut out the banter’ was the most appalling example of short-sightedness.  You have missed the entire point of the programmes.  You have ignored your listening public in favour of balancing the books.  In the short time you may save on a researcher or two, but in the long term you are going to lose your audiences as there is nothing to attract them to your station.
I have been a listener to RTE since the ’60s, back in the heyday of broadcasting when RTE could hold its head high at the standards it produced.  No longer.  There is an apparent determination to produce bland, mindless wall to wall music which frankly can be found on any cheap local station.
This is a decision that is easily reversed, and I would urge you, for the sake of the public, and for the sake of RTE to do so.
Yours in disgust,

So there you go.

It wasn’t hard.

In fact it was easy, as I wrote as I felt.

So now its your turn.

Get off your arses and WRITE.

complaints@rte.ie would LOVE to hear from you.

 

Comments

Love letters — 21 Comments

  1. Out of office reply

    Thank you for contacting complaints@rte.ie Your e-mail will be responded to as soon as possible.

    RTÉ Corporate Communications

    I reckon they’ll have one or few emails today alright 😛

  3. I’d write, but..

    A. I’ve never heard the program or station

    B. Couldn’t hear it if I wanted to.. unless it streams.. does it stream?

    C. They’d think it odd that someone in California is complaining. Unless it streams. Does it stream?

    I guess I *could* write from the angle that when my friend grandad is unhappy, I’M unhappy.

  4. Dear Sirs

    You are all a bunch of penny pinching, licence fee wasting, scrooge-like, tight fisted, long pocketed, short armed, mealy mouthed, obtuse, unimaginative, anally retentive feckers.

    Yours truly

    Hooronahonda (Mr.)

  6. Considering that RTE could save millions each year with just one job cut, yes, cutting the services we actually *enjoy* is rather grating.

  7. It makes no sense that for Rick’s show to not have the talky bits since they’re obviously what people tune in for.
    I mean I hardly ever listen to radio, asides from really old shows… but I actually go out of my way to get ones that dont play the f*cking music.
    Everyone that 2fm is aimed at has an mp3 player now, their mp3 player probably has every song on the 2fm playlist that they like… therefore they couldn’t give a sh!t about the music in most cases.
    To me it seems a tad backwards looking… unless the plan is to clear out some of their staff. Which still seems moronic.

    …but f*ck Nikki Hayes.

    Hope that comment is coherent

  8. Wow his departure’s caused quite a rucus among the Irish blogs . . .stand up and be counted and let’s hope they bring him back.

  9. I’ve written a few emails now and gotten no response at all.

    I get more irate the more they ignore me.

  10. Baino – Nah! They haven’t fired anyone as such. Rick O’Shea has an afternoon programme here on RTE. He has a great line of banter with his audience, getting them, to mail him or Twitter him during the programme. You never quite know what is going to come up next, and as a result, he has built up a good following.

    The powers that be in RTE have for some reason ordered him to quit all the banter and to become a “and that was…. and next we have” type of bland DJ. His show has become a long stream of pop songs, with no personality or [frankly] interest.

    Maxi – Just keep writing. It’s like the lottery. Play often enough and you might get a letter, even if it is only telling you to fuck off.

  12. Caren – Somewhere in the region of €1m a year? Three years ago he was getting €849,139 a year so it must be close to the million mark now.

  13. Pat Kenny-€1million, decent person, good radio show
    Gerry Ryan-€500k, pr!ck, eh… pr!ck

    a millions too much i agree but ryan doesn’t deserve the dole

  14. BBBb – Are you seriously saying that The Plank is worth a million? Are you mad? If they fired Plank and Ryan they could afford to employ another 25 people. Now there’s a thought for RTE to mull over as they have their cornflakes.

  15. If they got rid of the plank and gerry the idiot, they would be cleaning the station of it’s droll reputation. AND they could employ some proper decent people.

    Rick O’Shea took unprecented actions, way ahead of his time, to open the channel of communication between him and his listeners – twitter, blog, the whole lot. He *was* entertaining (as *was* Nikki Hayes), funny, and off-topic.

    The problem with Rick and Nikki Hayes was probably that they didn’t have enough political pull to keep them there. They obviously weren’t friendly with the person in RTÉ who pulls the strings.

    Regional Radio for the win.

  16. Have you guys listened to the death notices on Shannonside Northern Sound? I think the programmers at RTE should aim for similar giddy heights. Its better than anything they are producing at the moment.

  18. There’s something wrong with the world when Pat Kenny gets paid twice as much per year as Barack Obama will.

    There’s something even wronger (sic) when Gerry JowellyTwatFace gets more than him also. How’d that happen?

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